21222: How many times did the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) perform ‘Umrah?

How many times did the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) perform ‘Umrah?

Praise
be to Allaah.

It was narrated from Qutaadah that Anas (may Allaah be
pleased with him) told him that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) performed ‘Umrah four times,
all of them in Dhu’l-Qi’dah apart from the ‘Umrah which he performed
with his Hajj: (he did) ‘Umrah from al-Hudaybiyah or at the time of
al-Hudaybiyah in Dhu’l-Qi’dah; (he did) ‘Umrah the following year in
Dhu’l-Qi’dah; and (he did) ‘Umrah from Ja’raanah when he shared out
the booty of Hunayn in Dhu’l-Qi’dah.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Hajj, 1654; Muslim,
al-Hajj, 1253

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

He did ‘Umrah four times after the Hijrah, four ‘Umrahs,
all of them in Dhu’l-Qi’dah.

The first was the ‘Umrah of al-Hudaybiyah, which was
the first of them, in 6 AH, but the mushrikeen prevented him from reaching
the House (the Ka’bah), so he offered the sacrifice (of camels) when
his way was blocked at al-Hudaybiyah, and he and his companions shaved
their heads and exited the state of ihraam, and went back in the same
year to Madeenah.

The second was the Fulfilled ‘Umrah in the following
year, when he entered Makkah and stayed there for three (days), then
he left after completing his ‘Umrah.

The third was the ‘Umrah which he did along with his
Hajj.

The fourth was his ‘Umrah from al-Ja’raanah, when he
went out to Hunayn then he came back to Makkah and performed ‘Umrah
from al-Ja’raanah.

He said: there is no (scholarly) dispute concerning the
fact that he did no more than four ‘Umrahs.

See Zaad al-Ma’aad, vol. 2, p. 90-93

Al-Nawawi said:

The
scholars said: the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) performed these ‘Umrahs
in Dhu’l-Qid’ah because of the virtue of this month and in order to
go against the (ways of) Jaahiliyyah, because they used to think that
this (i.e., doing ‘Umrah in Dhu’l-Qi’dah) was one of the most evil of
evil actions, as stated above. So the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that several times in
this month as this was the most eloquent way of explaining that it was
permissible and of demonstrating the beliefs of Jaahiliyyah to be false.